Writer's Dilemma
by obaona
Summary: A journalist in the GFFA attempts to write of the marriage of Luke and Mara. Short story, complete.


Title: Writer's Dilemma

Summary: A journalist in the GFFA attempts to write.

Rating: G.

A/N: Dedicated to anyone who has ever had writer's block. May it see this and die. ;) 

_*******_

_Finally, it has happened. _

_Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, famed warrior, man, and hero, has gotten engaged. As one of the galaxy's most eligible bachelors, it is quite a shock to many. One wonders if even his sister, Leia Organa Solo, knew; abrupt indeed._

Hallis let loose a noise of pure frustration. She rested her hands on the sides of her finger-board, staring at the glowing screen, with the black letters glaring starkly at her. She was sitting in her office, an office in one of the largest newsgroups in the galaxy. She was a famous journalist. Her office was on the heights of Coruscant, with huge windows and a sweeping view. It was decorated lavishly in cool, pastel colors, with money spent by execs eager to get such a high-profile journalist on their team. 

She knew Wedge Antilles personally. She had met him on Adumar, on one of her first serious assignments. She had helped him win against a plot a to get him killed, had helped the entire mission – while, of course, getting the whole thing on holotape and staying safely out of the way. That story led to her current, still-going strong career. She did mostly holoreports, but occasionally she wrote a piece or two.

And here she was. Writing a story on Luke Skywalker's stunning, surprising engagement. It was everywhere, and everyone was trying to get a different angle on why he was marrying Mara Jade – a woman not known well by the public, but very well known by the military and Inspec services. Formerly the personal servant of Palpatine.

Still, a mere marriage, even Luke Skywalker's, was a bit below her standards. She didn't write that fluff anymore, hadn't since she left the sludgenews for good. She shuddered, bracing her hands against the inside of her arms. Sludgenews was all about outrageous stories like Vader being alive and plotting to take over the Empire, and Palpatine's love child being an alien.

It was a bit cold in the office, with her bare arms, and she let her long brown hair fall down her shoulders, sighing. She rubbed her neck, trying to get the crick out. She'd been sitting here for too long, trying to get this fluff article done.

Of course, her editor had asked she do this as a personal favor, telling her that her name on this would give them a new angle – credibility. Make it stick out. She just knew that one day his letting her get off a longer-than-normal amount for her honeymoon those two years ago was going to come back to haunt her, and make her write some fluff piece. She just _knew_ it. Her instincts had told her so.

And they were right. 

But still, why couldn't she write the stupid thing? Fluff pieces are exactly that – fluff. Nothingness. Without substance. It shouldn't be difficult to write at all. It was a two page article! Now, she normally didn't write, per se, but she had done it plenty in her earlier days, before she got Whitecap, the droid (and holocam) she carried on her shoulder during assignments to catch everything – and disguise herself in the process. Eccentric, but it worked. And besides, she had written plenty of essays and suchlike in college. 

Sighing deeply, Hallis focused once again on her expensive, Galcrom computer screen. It was completely flat, hardly a centimeter thick, and sat on her exotic wood desk. Stretching her fingers and telling herself to concentrate, she settled her hands back down, intent on getting this thing done.

Yet even more fascinating is the tale of the woman he is to marry: Mara Jade. Very little of her has been made public, truly making for a mysterious figure that has stolen the dashing Luke Skywalker . . .

Dashing? What is she thinking, using such a . . . sensational term? "I am not a sludgnews reporter, dammit!" she whispered to herself, fiercely. She doubted anyone could hear her outside the spacious office, but it never hurt to be safe. Some uppity newsgirl was trying to take her topdog position in the news team. Not that that would happen, but it was wise to be cautious. Wedge had once asked, not jokingly, if she was Intelligence trained. She'd take that compliment and keep it true.

And mysterious figure? It sounded like a cheap, romance holonovel, Hallis thought. She rubbed her eyes. Not to mention, she was hardly two paragraphs in and the thing was wanting to end. Substanceless indeed. 

Could it be true love? Skywalker and Jade have been reported to have known each other for quite some time, since the period where Thrawn briefly ruled the Empire and threatened the Republic. One wonders if this mysterious woman had anything to do with that incident, as she was formerly Imperial herself. Yet plainly Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Master, would not be fooled, so she must be something unique and trustworthy indeed.

Hallis groaned. Her hands combed through her hair, then gripped it briefly – harshly – in frustration. This whole thing was bantha poodoo! She didn't care that she owed the editor a favor – she couldn't do this, she wouldn't do this. She was a serious, respected journalist. This story could fall by the wayside. She would just have to tell her editor that she refused to do it. He'd moan and groan, and his eyes would go into their blue sacs, but such was the game of the business. He would have someone else on it five minutes after she left his office.

Carefully, her lower lip between her teeth and a little grin showing, she selected the text. And with a vicious stab of her finger, she hit the delete button, forever dooming the story to nothingness. 

Take that, stupid story.


End file.
